A Day in Our Life

By far, my most favorite posts to read by other bloggers are posts that look at their typical daily schedules. I just love to see how others live their lives, schedule their time, and what their priorities are. Since it has been over a year since my last day in the life post it is definitely time for an update.

We now have an 18 month old (almost but it's official tomorrow) and a 3 1/2 year old. I think I have been waiting until I had a "normal" schedule to do another post but that day never has really come. I'm learning that with 2 active littles there may never be a consistent normal. We continue to ebb and flow and change to meet our children's needs constantly. Nonetheless, I want a screenshot of this period of my life, so let's get to it:

Night: I have to start with this because how our night goes seems to directly impact what our day looks like. Riley has hit an 18 month sleep regression, is teething, and is still getting over a cold so there's not much sleep happening here with him. He's up every 1-3 hours at night lately. Payton was sleeping all night with no issues but since Monte had his appendix removed she started getting up once each night. His surgery definitely scared her.

So, not much sleep at night is happening but both children seem to be playing catch up by sleeping in each morning. I can't complain about that! There's always coffee to help me fake it 'til I make it as well.

6AM: Monte's alarms start going off for him to go to work. Since I've had a night of almost no sleep, I fall back asleep.

8:30AM: Payton wakes up and comes to get me up. We sit and rock in the living room and she tells me about her dreams and plans for the day. She sometimes sits with me until brother gets up or we will play quietly with toys (cars, pretend restaurant, and babies are her favorite at this time). Sometimes she will convince me to let her watch a show and "rest."

9AM: Riley wakes up. He has been getting up about this time for about a week but before that he was getting up at about 6:30AM. I think he's up so much as night he just can't help but sleep a bit longer. He wakes up happy and wanting to see "sissy."

I get breakfast going and feed the kids. Most breakfasts are super easy like pancakes (from my freezer batch), oatmeal, cereal, and/or toast. Each meal is typically loaded with fruit and both kids almost always have a banana with this meal. Some days both kids help me make meals and other days they don't. Today they sit together and wait patiently.

As you can probably see, both kids are definitely still getting over a cold. Payton looks a bit under the weather.

9:30AM: We finish up eating and the kids decide to color while I get started on chores. Today, I gave them a newspaper ad because Payton wanted to make a grocery list.

I then feed the chickens and our outside cats (Riley joins me but Payton waits at the door for us to return), start a load of laundry, and then start on picking up the kitchen. This is what I have to start the day with:

Beautiful kitchen right? Okay, we don't like it either. It's original to the house and we plan to remodel it but are still figuring out exactly what we want to do. Until then, it stays as it is.

It would probably be in my best interest to clean the kitchen before I go to bed but that just doesn't happen. I would rather relax with my husband. Instead, I give myself about 15 minutes to dedicate to cleaning in the morning.

This is as good as it gets but, for us, it's good enough for us. I'm trying to worry less about the cleaning and focus on just enjoying the time I've been gifted on what matters.

10AM: By now, I've got most of my morning chores done and I will play with the children. I let them lead the way in what we do. Payton is really enjoying having pretend weddings and birthdays, dancing, practicing gymnastics, driving trucks around, and playing library right now. Riley will follow suit with whatever she wants. He also almost always has a ball (or 5) that he's throwing around the house by this time.

I love their bonding, but seriously, they can be a little dangerous.

11AM: Despite sleeping in, Riley is already asking for a nap (yes, he asks for a nap, something his sister would NEVER do). I like to hold him off as long as possible so I convince the kids to make lunch. We typically have leftovers. Today we just make a loaded chef salad. We work on counting with Payton as we eat lunch.

11:30AM-12PM: Somewhere during this time Riley finishes eating and requests his nap again. I clean him, change his diaper, and get him ready to take a nap. He hugs and kisses Payton and we go to lay him down. I rock him for a few minutes before laying him down in his crib. Payton finishes her meal and listens to children's nursery rhymes during this time.

Once Riley is asleep, this becomes a great time to spend quality time with Payton. Lately, I will pull down toys and games she has that Riley isn't old enough for yet like Candyland, toys with little pieces, and painting. Today, we walk to get the mail together and then she asks me to rock her before she starts quiet time. This cold we've all had is definitely slowing us down.

12:30PM: Payton starts quiet time. She must lay down but is allowed to look at books and has a few quiet toys with her.

During this time, I do whatever is needed. If I haven't gotten much sleep the night before I will also lay down. Today, I fold a load of laundry and catch up on some shows I have recorded.

1:30PM: Payton gets up and requests we play cars. I play cars with her until her brother wakes from his nap.

2PM: Riley wakes up. Both kids are always asking for snack at this time. They eat snack and then ask to bake something. We get started on brownies.

This is basically another free period where I try to do whatever the kids want to do. If we could get outside, we would but our winters are too cold to go out for long periods of time. We change up the rooms of the house we are in and find plenty of things to do in each area.

3:30PM: Monte normally comes home and the kids are ecstatic to see daddy and show him the surprise they made him. From here, our day will go by very quickly and become quite a blur. I don't know how that always happens, but it does.

We sit down and have a small brownie each. Since there is another adult around, I typically try to sneak off and take a shower at this time. I know, it's very late in the day, but that's just how it goes. The kids always have lots to show and tell their daddy so they spend a good chunk of time talking with him and wrestling around with him.

4:45PM: This hasn't changed in any day of our life posts I have ever done. Dinner is started. Since having Payton, she demands to eat at 5:30 (actually 5 most days but we push that out as far as we can). As I'm about to start spaghetti, my mother calls and offers to buy pizza for us tonight. I don't want this to sound like this is normal as this, in fact, may be the first time I can think of that my mother has done this. In any case, we jump on the offer and celebrate not having to cook tonight.

5PM: We load the kids up and head to town to pick up the pizza my mom has graciously offered to get for us. We come back home and eat. I take a quick video of the kids thanking my mother for the meal.


We would have loved to have her there as well but she lives a little over 3 hours away from us. This was quite a treat for us.

After eating, we clean up and then spend some time with the kids. Again, we are doing whatever the kids choose to do. Isn't that how it is with most parents? Please, tell me it is.

6:45PM: We start a bath for the kids. Payton refuses to take a bath tonight, which has been normal lately. We make her take one every other day so tonight she gets out of it. She sits on the ledge of the tub and reads stories to her brother while he bathes. It's very sweet to watch.

7:30PM: Kids are put to bed. This has been the same since their birth. Riley has recently had a hard time with going to sleep so what used to be 10 minutes to get him to bed is now more like 45 minutes. I'm hoping this is a quick stage and he will be back to the regular swing of things soon.

8PM: By this time both kids are typically asleep. Monte and I watch some tv, get on our phones, and discuss the day. With Riley getting up between 10 & 11PM, I head to bed by 9 so I can get a little bit of sleep before the craziness of the night starts.

This is somewhat of a typical week for us. We continue to go to our local library one morning each week for story time. Payton is also in gymnastics one afternoon each week. I also take the kids to visit an adopted grandparent in the nursing home once a week. I continue to try to keep our lives as quiet and slow as possible so my kids can grow and play as they need to.

I'm sure our daily schedule will continue to grow and change as the children continue to grow. I'm excited to see what is to come!

What does your typical day look like?

This post has been linked up with Modest monday link up, Nourishing Joy link up, What Joy is Mine link up, Epic Mommy's link up, Our simple homestead link up, teaching what is good link up, this toddler life link up, creative kids link up, and the Chicken's chick link up.